Mitsubishi Heavy Plans New Aircraft Plant

NAGOYA, Jan. 24 (Kyodo) — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. plans to build a new plant for its subsidiary Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp.'s production of a new small jet now under development, company sources said Thursday.

The company intends to secure a 7.8-hectare site neighboring an airport in Toyoyama, Aichi Prefecture, for the plant, which is expected to contribute to invigorating the regional economy through additional employment.

The Aichi Prefecture government plans to develop the site owned by the prefectural and central governments as an aircraft production base and invite relevant companies to make bids for the site, while Mitsubishi Heavy intends to meet the invitation.

The company hopes to start construction of the plant as early as fiscal 2014 from April next year.

Orders for the new small aircraft called the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, or MRJ, have reached 325 units.

Mitsubishi Aircraft plans to boost the orders to 1,500 aircraft within the next two decades and raise the monthly production pace to 10 units around fiscal 2020.